Plans to construct the 256-kilometre Kenya-Uganda Expressway are in full gear after the East African Community (EAC) revealed plans to conduct a feasibility study over the next 18 months before works begin.
The project, which will run from Kisumu to Kakira in Uganda, is expected to improve trade ties among the EAC member states.
The current 104-kilometre stretch running from Kisumu to Uganda will undergo rehabilitation to bitumen standards before being upgraded to a two-lane dual-carriageway.
To prove its economic viability, a feasibility study will be conducted by a German-based consultancy firm alongside a Kenyan company at a cost of Ksh201 million. Upon completion of the feasibility studies, construction will begin in October 2025.
The studies, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) will also establish how landlocked countries in the EAC can easily tap into the Port of Mombasa's potential.
Speaking during the ceremony handing over the project to the German firm, EAC Deputy Secretary General Aguer Ariik Malueth highlighted that the project forms part of the goal to expand the road infrastructure network in the region and encourage cross-border trade.
He expressed confidence that the EAC countries would upgrade other sections of the Northern Corridor to accelerate the mission.
"It is our expectation that the Partner States are also in the process of upgrading the other sections of the Northern corridor from Mombasa through Nairobi up to Malaba and from Kampala westwards towards Katuna and Mpondwe to achieve a uniformly high level of service along the entire corridor," Malueth stated.
President William Ruto's administration recently unveiled plans to commence the dualing of the Nairobi- Nakuru Highway that would be extended to Malaba in the coming months.
"We are well on course to dualing the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway. Before the end of this year, we will begin the dualing of the road between Nairobi and Nakuru to Eldoret and Malaba," Ruto stated on April 24, 2024.
During the launch, Engineer Godfrey Enzama of the EAC Secretariat also acknowledged that the project would address security concerns along the stretch.
He projected that the road fatalities along the Northern Corridor would also drastically reduce following the project's launch.
